Donald Trump has suggested he should be immune to impeachment because of the “great” performance of the US economy.
In an interview aired on Thursday morning, the President seemed bewildered that anyone could think he could be impeached, despite both his former campaign manager, and his personal lawyer, both being found guilty of crimes just two days before.
On Tuesday, Trump’s ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, plead guilty to campaign finance violations, after he admitted paying “hush money” to two women Trump is alleged to have had affairs with, in order to suppress negative publicity in the run up to the 2016 election.
The shocking events have raised speculation that Democrats could launch impeachment proceedings against the President if they win the House of Representatives this autumn during the mid-term elections.
Speaking to Fox host Ainsley Earhardt, Trump said: ”I don’t know how you can impeach somebody who’s done a great job.”
Trump’s reasoning appears to be that because the US economy is booming, any misdeeds he may have committed should be excusable.
Further, he gave a warning of what he thought would happen if he was impeached, saying: “If I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. I think everybody would be very poor.
“Without this thinking,” said Trump as he pointed to his head, “you would see, you would see numbers that you wouldn’t believe in reverse.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Trump suggested that Cohen’s legal trouble stemmed from his other businesses, including involvement with the New York City taxi cab industry.
He also claimed he only worked for him part-time and made up “lies” to reduce his legal exposure. “It’s called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal,” Trump said.
Speaking of Manafort, the President expressed “great respect” for him.